The wine glass Adrian held in his hand shattered, shards falling with melodic pings as they hit the floors. His eyes were fixed on the news reports running about the Crusaders, seeing as they had been unusually active as of late, this particular section on his beloved Kisari. It looped video taken at the press conference she interrupted, celebrating the damage that had been done to her and her comrade in the explosion. Gritting his teeth, Adrian had to keep from breaking more things. That was his prey they were talking about, his plaything that someone else was trying to do harm to. It was an odd sentiment, but there was something about her that he liked... That drove him to seek her out and squeeze the life out of her.
He wasn't all that worried though, she was much tougher than she appeared to most humans. Fire would not break her as easily as they were accustomed to. Finding his foul mood softened slightly by the thought he chuckled, stepping lightly around the mess. As if responding to his desire to see her, the screen popped up an image of her pulling crew members out of a crashing chopper... An event that was no doubt the group's fault. It showed clips of the other members as well, giving short descriptions and recaps of their public personas and "achievements", but he didn't care too much for them. Sighing heavily, Adrian was becoming more and more certain that the only way to see his favorite Dragon-kin was to stir up some trouble and draw her out... After all, her hate for him burned deep. He saw it in her eyes the last time they had run into each other... A burning desire to destroy that which injured her heart.
Deciding that he was going to get to work on drawing her out, Adrian made his way to his lavish room. The entrance to the room had French doors, allowing a grand entrance into the overly spacious room. There wasn't much in the main portion of the room itself, just standard furniture mostly; a bed, a reading chair, bookcase, television. It was the walk-in closet that tended to wow people, seeing as it was virtually a whole separate room in the house, one he filled with all of his wearable belongings... Including one very polished suit of armor. Pushing his way to the far back of the closet, Adrian approached a full length mirror and planted his hand on the glass. Something buzzed as his palm was read, a small click revealing that the passageway was clear for his entrance. Pushing the mirror inward, Adrian reveal a hallway that led to yet another room. This one held all of his accolades and items linking him to the hero Helion, spread about the circular room's exterior with his suit dead center. It had just been polished, shining brightly in the spotlights installed to illuminate the windowless room.
It didn't take him very long to don the hero's outfit, sliding the helmet over his head before shifting about to be certain the thing sat right. Once satisfied with the positioning of his body within the armor, Adrian set off to find his lure. He knew that the others he worked so frequently with wouldn't approve of the actions he was about to take... Hero image and all, however it wouldn't be the first time he did something morally questionable, it was all just a matter of how the media receives its information. Put on a good enough show and the people will love you regardless of the outcome, at least that was what he learned from his survival against Kisari the first time. People didn't care about the truth, only the perceived truth and that was just fine by him. Cloaking his movements, he hid himself from prying eyes as he made his way out the back door and took off into the sky.
~~~
Just a little while later, Helion was touching down in the middle of the street, looking about curiously. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't to his tastes either. Rumors had sprouted of a dangerous network building in this part of the city so if all else failed he could fall back on such an excuse. It was perfect. His real target though was a man who had caught his attention just a few days back. If he could find that man and fight against him, Helion had a chance at drawing Kisari out especially if it attacked her own morals... Not that he was totally convinced she had any, but a man could dream.
Looking up and down the street, Helion stared at the two bars standing side by side growling internally. His initial intel had only said that his target had been seen at a bar on this particular street. Wasn't very helpful when there was more than one standing right next to each other. The situation wasn't ideal for him, but that wasn't going to stop him from entering both to seek the information he required. Pushing his way in through the Seven Sins Bar, scanning the room once before catching sight of the barkeep. Showtime. Raising a hand slightly, Helion nodded his head in greeting, approaching the bar to speak with the man.
"I apologize for interrupting, I'll try to be quick so you can get back to business. I'm Helion, I run with the Magistrates on occasion and I'm actually here on a case right now. You see, I have few questions for a key witness but unfortunately this witness in question has been a little difficult to find. I was wondering if you had seen him around? Maybe point me in the right direction? He's a Russian fellow, pretty strong from the sound of things... Could probably even give me a run for my money." Helion chuckled, directing a smile into each of his words. It wasn't expression that could be seen but it definitely could be heard. Made people more comfortable, which worked in his favor when he needed them to trust him. The barkeep simply shook his head, shrugging his shoulders in response; the universal sign for 'I don't know anything'. Helion sighed and thanked the man for his help before walking back out the door.
"Second time is a charm." He mumbled to himself as he made his way into the second bar. This one was a lot different than the place next door, had a much different feel to it... Somehow the other one felt nicer... He could see why this place would be more likely than the first. However, he knew going into this that his usual charms weren't very likely to work. People who came here were most likely unfriendly when it came to law enforcement. He didn't think any were stupid enough to try and attack him, but he also didn't want to be the idiot that stuck around to find out. "I'm looking for a Russian fellow, quite probably the one in the rumors going around. Got a couple of questions for him so could you help a guy out?" Just as he suspected though, these guys were of little help. He thanked them anyway and exited the building, catching sight of movement across the street.
Never had Helion ever expected that his saving grace would be found in the eyes of a homeless man. Easily manipulated by money alone, a few dollars thrown in the right direction had produced Helion with a direction for his missing Russian. "Come out, come out wherever you are." He had the feeling that he was getting close, but without anyone reliable out an about at that moment he was at a loss. Quickly growing more and more impatient, he decided to kick things up a small notch. "Russian! I know you're here somewhere. I have some questions I'd like to ask you!" He shouted, scanning the area around him for any threats... Or better yet the man he had hopes would draw Kisari out of hiding and into his arms.
@Ko T'suno @HellHoundWoof
